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1988 Vanderbilt

3–⁠8 (2–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Watson Brown.

Schedule and results

Vanderbilt in 1988, game by game: won vs. Mississippi State 24–20; won at Rutgers 31–30; lost at No. 13 Alabama 10–44; lost vs. Duke 15–17; lost at No. 15 Georgia 22–41; won vs. No. 20 Florida 24–9; lost vs. Ole Miss 28–36; lost at Kentucky 13–14; lost at Army 19–24; lost at Memphis 9–28; lost vs. Tennessee 7–14+15−34Won 24–20 vs. Mississippi State+4Mississippi Sta…Won 31–30 at Rutgers+1RutgersLost 10–44 at No. 13 Alabama-34No. 13 AlabamaLost 15–17 vs. Duke-2DukeLost 22–41 at No. 15 Georgia-19No. 15 GeorgiaWon 24–9 vs. No. 20 Florida+15No. 20 FloridaLost 28–36 vs. Ole Miss-8Ole MissLost 13–14 at Kentucky-1KentuckyLost 19–24 at Army-5ArmyLost 9–28 at Memphis-19MemphisLost 7–14 vs. Tennessee-7Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsMississippi StateW 24–⁠2055%
Sep 17atRutgersW 31–⁠3037%
Sep 24at13AlabamaL 10–⁠4424%
Oct 1vsDukeL 15–⁠1745%
Oct 8at15GeorgiaL 22–⁠4119%
Oct 15vs20FloridaW 24–⁠934%
Oct 22vsOle MissL 28–⁠3657%
Nov 5atKentuckyL 13–⁠1432%
Nov 12atArmyL 19–⁠2426%
Nov 19atMemphisL 9–⁠2838%
Nov 26vsTennesseeL 7–⁠1440%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 14–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 89th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
202–⁠277
Coach
Watson Brown
Elo
1400 −49 this season
SP+ rating
-8.7 No. 76 of 102; offense No. 82, defense No. 65
SRS
−4.0 No. 68 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Dick Hopkins
Defense
4–⁠3

All-SEC

1 first team

First team

  • Boo MitchellWRAP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠28
LSU6–⁠18–⁠419
Georgia5–⁠29–⁠315
Alabama4–⁠39–⁠317
Florida4–⁠37–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠45–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠55–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠53–⁠8
Mississippi State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.